Show HN: Petrichor – a free, open-source, offline music player for macOS

153 kushalpandya 69 7/9/2025, 10:17:31 PM github.com ↗
I have a large collection of music files gathered over the years, so I was sorely missing a decent offline music player that can serve as a frontend for the collection. I tried several Mac apps over the years, but since streaming music is mainstream now, there aren't good offline music players that meet my needs. So I spent the last 3 months building Petrichor! The idea is to solve my problem and learn Swift UI development along the way, while giving back to the community with this open-source project! Here's a list of features it has, with more getting added in future;

- Everything you'd expect from an offline music player!

- Map your music folders and browse your library in an organised view.

- Create playlists and manage the play queue interactively.

- Browse music using folder view when needed.

- Pin anything (almost!) to the sidebar for quick access to your favourite music.

- Navigate easily: right-click a track to go to its album, artist, year, etc.

- Native macOS integration with menubar and dock playback controls, plus dark mode support.

- Search quickly through large libraries containing thousands of songs.

The app is still in alpha, so things may look unpolished, but I've been testing the alpha builds for the past few weeks and fixing issues as I find them for v1 release. I welcome any feedback (and contributions!) on GitHub repo. Please give it a try and let me know what you think!

Comments (69)

tianqi · 2h ago
The most issues I encounter with music players are related to my situation of NAS. My NAS is straightforward: I just connect a RAID to a Mac and share it, then let other Macs connect to this "server". This allows me to access it in Finder like any other directory. However, this setup presents two obvious problems for many players: First, since the directory is not always available (if I'm not at home), some players cannot properly handle the issue of the main directory not existing. Second, I need to easily synchronise playlists across different computers, but many players do not support saving playlists as files, specifying their save location onto NAS, and configuring themselves to read playlists from NAS. These issues have been causing me a great deal of frustration. Currently I use VOX, which is a fairly acceptable option. I hope I can find a better solution.
tambourine_man · 1h ago
I've been looking for an alternative since Apple decided to turn iTunes into the mess that is Apple Music. But I still need to import the two decades of playing statistics (skips, last played, etc) along with ratings, date added, etc. Petrichor looks really good, congratulations, I'll try it out.
carlosjobim · 28m ago
I'm in the same situation, but if we take a rational look at it those statistics don't really have any value. If you can make different playlists in your new player according to your old ratings, then that should be enough.
tambourine_man · 24m ago
On the contrary, I find them priceless.
dewey · 10h ago
If you are looking for a “old school iTunes” kind of player there’s also https://swinsian.com/
gpm · 9h ago
The Readme mentions that app under "Motivation"

> Motivation

> I have a large collection of music files that I’ve gathered over the years, and I missed having a good offline music player on macOS. I used Swinsian (great app, by the way!), but it hasn't been updated in years. I also missed features commonly found in streaming apps; so I built Petrichor to scratch that itch and learn Swift and macOS app development along the way!

thek3nger · 8h ago
For the people interested, Swinsian has a beta version that is actively developed. I got an update a couple of weeks ago. So it is not abandoned.
atoav · 7m ago
[delayed]
Meekro · 4h ago
Thanks for the recommendation! This one's the best "old school iTunes" program I've tried so far. I might stick with this one for now. I especially like how I can make smartlists with nested rules.

The main thing I'm missing is volume leveling.

bigyabai · 6h ago
quodlibet comes highly recommended for Windows/Linux users that want a more retro media player: https://github.com/quodlibet/quodlibet
ale42 · 1h ago
I don't own a Mac, so I wont use it directly, but I use Macs from time to time, and it looks great! +1 (or +10) for being native code made with Swift and not the x-th HTML/JS-based program that eats your RAM :-)
kawsper · 3h ago
I’ve been searching for something like this, I love the name!

I currently use iTunes, and I might be an idiot, but I don’t seem to be able to export/import my library between installs, so I lose my plays and settings, but I never lose music files!

I have a massive music library and mostly just listen on shuffle, but it would be cool to be able to sync to my iPhone.

I’ll try all the recommendations in this thread!

Meekro · 4h ago
I've been searching for the perfect "old school iTunes" program for a while. I'm pretty sure it does not exist, maybe I'll try to make one someday unless someone beats me to it? Here's what I want:

* Smartlists, preferably with nested rules

* Proper search, the way iTunes did it: you have a huge excel-like list of songs that filters as you type

* Volume leveling

* Corresponding Windows/Mac/iPhone programs, with the ability to sync my collection like Dropbox

I would gladly pay $100 for this.

newscracker · 8h ago
Two suggestions, if you have the time to look at the effort and difficulty to implement them:

> P.S. I plan publish it on Homebrew soon.

1. Please consider publishing on MacPorts too.

2. Please consider supporting m4b audiobooks (it’s a different file extension from the common m4a, but also supports chapters).

Cenk · 5h ago
If you’re looking for a “iTunes before it went to shit” vibe I can also recommend Doppler: https://brushedtype.co/doppler/
Meekro · 5h ago
Thanks for the recommendation! I gave it a try, but unfortunately this one doesn't have the stuff that I liked from old-school iTunes. At first glance: no smart lists; search doesn't work the way I want (I want a giant excel-like list that filters as I type); no volume leveling.
blef · 2h ago
I don't have my own music collection, but because of this I'd consider finding a way to have it to switch away from online providers.
eviks · 11h ago
> Everything you'd expect from an offline music player!

I'd expect winamp-level UI customization, cross-platform support, iTunes library smart playlist support...

syspec · 8h ago
Ah, I guess he was talking to the person behind you
uldos · 6h ago
I can suggest Cog (https://cog.losno.co/) as simple but powerfull music player that plays flac
8mobile · 9h ago
Congrats for Petrichor, really impressive work! I love the clean, modern UI. I’m currently using Swinsian (still solid in many ways), but Petrichor feels like a breath of fresh air, especially for those of us who still care about local libraries. I truly hope you’ll bring this to iOS. Thanks
beschizza · 13h ago
Without even looking at anything else, I love the name.
gpm · 12h ago
Anyone want to let me in on the joke/reference/pun/pronunciation/why it's a clever name?
kushalpandya · 12h ago
There you go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor

> Petrichor is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil.

johng · 11h ago
It's actually my favorite scent in the world. I grew up in New Mexico.
pcardoso · 1h ago
Also the name of a song by Ludovico Einaudi, quite popular. At least to me it was the first thing I thought when I saw this post.
zdw · 9h ago
Any thoughts on syncing against an external music library that uses the Subsonic API (like Navidrome or similar) so an offline/"away from home" laptop could still listen to music?
dvdplm · 13h ago
Does it have FLAC support (or other high res audio formats)?
leetrout · 13h ago
OP should put it up front in their README.

But from the code, seems it does.

  static let supportedExtensions = ["mp3", "m4a", "wav", "aac", "aiff", "flac"]
kushalpandya · 13h ago
Thanks for the feedback, I'll add it to Readme, although app lists supported formats (as supported by AVFoundation) on app UI where user can add folders.
jzellis · 3h ago
I'm not in front of my laptop but I'm gonna download it later, as I've got a 128GB SD card filled with my middle aged white guy hipster music library that I also keep on an actual 5G iPod Classic (which I added SD storage to and keep meaning to also add a Bluetooth module to as well).

A thought, because of all the folks asking for volume limiting: if you're not into DSP, it might be easier to simply add a point in your audio output flow for AudioUnits and let people use one of the existing limiters for it - Apple just straight up includes one on every Mac in the AudioUnits library - or write one specifically and include it.

This would also allow not just limiting but EQ, compression or even simulated tube warmth if people wanted that. (Or, y'know, running everything through autotune and a bit crusher if they're psychopaths. :-D)

I've never coded in Swift but I imagine adding a point to route through AudioUnits is probably not hugely difficult and iirc Apple has example code for doing it, at least they used to.

Keep up the awesome work, either way!

reader9274 · 7h ago
Will it support playing lossless files in FLAC or ALAC format? Will it be able to change the audio sampling rate per song to match the song's sampling rate?
rock_artist · 8h ago
> macOS 14 or later

That’s a pretty high bar for a Mac app assuming some hardcore offline music lovers might use older OS versions.

kushalpandya · 1h ago
I started with only macOS 15 for starters, but I agree it might be possible to support even older versions so I'll check if this can be improved in future alpha or beta builds.
fainpul · 3h ago
I agree. Although Swift / SwiftUI is not much fun if you can't use the latest features / APIs. The author mentions "learn Swift and macOS app development" as one of the motivations to make this, so I can understand that decision.
dlivingston · 11h ago
Beautiful app, well done. Pleaaaaaaaase make this available on iOS. Bonus points if the desktop version could do syncing with my iPhone. I could finally treat my iPhone like an iPod!
newscracker · 8h ago
I haven’t done a detailed comparison, but there’s been a free app called Decoupled [1] on iOS that supports various formats and loading music into it. The app hasn’t been updated in about four years though.

[1]: https://decoupled.app/

carlosjobim · 1h ago
There's already the excellent Doppler app for offline music on iOS.
kushalpandya · 10h ago
Yes, iPhone is target once mac stable release is complete as the core logic can be shared between 2 platforms.
yborg · 8h ago
Get a malware warning when trying to open disk image, Sequoia refuses to open it :(
kushalpandya · 1h ago
Right-click and select open as the app is currently signed using ad-hoc signing as Apple notarization costs money. :(
HnUser12 · 8h ago
If it's just a signing thing that Apple checks, you open run it by doing `xattr -d com.apple.quarantine filename` first.
zffr · 1h ago
or I think if you right click and then open the app, macOS lets you run it.
tbeseda · 35s ago
fwiw this won't work in macOS 15.6
haunter · 6h ago
brnt · 4h ago
omg how have I missed this. thanks!
carlosjobim · 2h ago
Is the alpha currently limited to max 200 songs? Because I can't seem to get it to add more.

Also, I'd like to ask if it currently supports smart playlists?

Congratulations on your work!

kushalpandya · 1h ago
No there's no limit on number of songs but there's a bug where if any track's metadata violates db constraints, scanning doesn't go past it. I've fixed it already and will include the fix in next alpha. I also need to get that auto-updates sorted now that folks are actually using it! :D
sneak · 2h ago
Be careful when you implement automatic updates. Done naievely it will grant you RCE on every one of your users’ computers. Learn from Solarwinds. You need user interaction, it can’t be touchless or it’s RCE.
programmarchy · 10h ago
This sounds like a breath of fresh air as a disenchanted Spotify user. My only hesitation is that I’ve lost touch with collecting music. I used to rip CDs and download music and curate a library etc, but I’ve lost my collection and collecting habits since adopting streaming. How do people collect music nowadays? Is there a legit way (fairly compensating artists) to do it?
thek3nger · 8h ago
I buy from Bandcamp and Qobuz (especially for classical and artists that are not on Bandcamp).
Cockbrand · 9h ago
Bandcamp comes to mind. Not sure about artists who aren't on Bandcamp, though.
toomim · 11h ago
How's this compare to the native macos music app formerly known as itunes?
darthcircuit · 10h ago
Anything is better than that dumpster fire. They changed the name but the ui is still straight out of the early 2000s. It’s an exercise in frustration to find the music you’re looking for, and if you subscribe to Apple Music, the radio suggestions rarely match what mood you set.

I was listening to some early 2000s alternative rock today and then randomly in the middle of my radio station it started playing a kids freeze dance song.

The best thing it has going for it is the lossless albums and native airplay casting. I got a free trial, but I’m not going to renew. I’d consider staying if they added native last.fm scrobbling, but even then I’m not sure.

I’m really bummed about the scrobbling because I lost several weeks of not a month of plays because my phone offloaded the scrobbler app and I didn’t notice. The official app for it on Mac says to use one or the other (macOS or iOS) because it will count twice.

eschatology · 7h ago
Feels like none of what you wrote is about how the native app compares to the app being discussed, Petrichor, which is an offline music organizer/player.

I have been using itunes/music to do that and it honestly works just fine. I have hundreds of playlists from over 10 years ago that still works. Finding specific playlist or music to play is pretty easy, especially with Alfred.

The longevity is the biggest concern to me when considering the third party apps. If it stops being maintained in the future I would be stuck and need to do the chore of moving them properly to another application. With the native app I am sure it will work for the next 20 years.

bigyabai · 6h ago
My big gripe with Music is that big butt-ugly modal ad they prompt you with if you're one of the billions of humans that don't pay for Apple Music: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253368403

It's something I'd have expected out of Microsoft, but from Apple it's a particularly shitty gesture. A big warning sign to the user that "your" device hasn't been fully paid-off yet.

> The longevity is the biggest concern to me when considering the third party apps.

And that's why I had to stop using MacOS entirely. It's absurd for a culture of paid software to have such horrible runtime compatibility. Meanwhile on Windows, you don't ever buy software that stops working. Even Linux has largely circumvented it's own ABI woes with sandboxed packaging. MacOS's statically linked app framework has every advantage in pushing out support timelines as far as Apple wants - they just don't want to push it very far, sadly.

samplatt · 7h ago
>the ui is still straight out of the early 2000s

There was a lot of great UI back then! None of it in iTunes, but still.

MangoToupe · 10h ago
> Anything is better than that dumpster fire.

Nonsense, you could be using Spotify.

darthcircuit · 9h ago
I’m going to try giving up on all of them and just growing my local collection monthly instead.
mrheosuper · 7h ago
the best-selling point in Spotify for me is discovering/suggesting new music. Sadly, it's not possible to do that when hosting local music, at least for now.
dwiehoff · 5h ago
Airplay is kind of a must
carlosjobim · 1h ago
Or you're gonna kick his ass?
leshokunin · 6h ago
Looks clean. Good work
keane · 13h ago
Congratulations on the release! This looks really cool!
lowbloodsugar · 5h ago
I use Roon.
meta-level · 7h ago
Imagine the title being "... a free, open-source, offline music player for <any other OS>"
integricho · 8h ago
For me, the ideal music player UI started and ended with Winamp, and I never liked any of the higher level ones, no need for music libraries etc. Recursive directory scan, delete what is not needed, flat playlist, can save any, the end. Also, the minimalistic window of Winamp is just perfect.
kushalpandya · 59m ago
Winamp is OG, so why not both!
bcraven · 7h ago
The 'Win' in Winamp was referring to Windows. This is a Mac application.
eviks · 7h ago
There is a mac clone https://re-amp.ru/